Kyiv Residents Defiant as Strikes Cut Off Power, Water

They say Russian onslaught will not break them
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Nov 25, 2022 3:04 AM CST
Kyiv Residents Defiant as Strikes Cut Off Power, Water
Kateryna Luchkina, a 31-year-old worker at Kyiv’s Department of Health, collects rainwater from a drainpipe in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Thursday. Nov. 24, 2022.   (AP Photo/John Leicester)

Residents of Ukraine's bombed capital clutched empty bottles in search of water and crowded into cafés for power and warmth Thursday, switching defiantly into survival mode after new Russian missile strikes a day earlier plunged the city and much of the country into the dark. In scenes hard to believe in a sophisticated city of 3 million, some Kyiv residents resorted to collecting rainwater from drainpipes, as repair teams labored to reconnect supplies, the AP reports. Friends and family members exchanged messages to find out who had electricity and water back. Some had one but not the other. The previous day's aerial onslaught on Ukraine's power grid left many with neither. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said about 70% of the Ukrainian capital was still without power on Thursday morning.

As Kyiv and other cities picked themselves up, Kherson on Thursday came under its heaviest bombardment since Ukrainian forces recaptured the southern city two weeks ago. The barrage of missiles killed four people outside a coffee shop and a woman was also killed next to her house, witnesses said. In Kyiv, where cold rain fell on the remnants of previous snowfalls, the mood was grim but steely. The winter promises to be a long one. But Ukrainians say that if Russian President Vladimir Putin's intention is to break them, he should think again. "Nobody will compromise their will and principles just for electricity," said Alina Dubeiko, 34. She said she'd rather be without power than live with the Russian invasion, which crossed the nine-month mark on Thursday.

Mindful of the hardships—both now and ahead, as winter progresses—authorities are opening thousands of so-called "points of invincibility"—heated and powered spaces offering hot meals, electricity and internet connections. More than 3,700 were open across the country of Thursday morning, authorities said. Western leaders denounced the bombing campaign. "Strikes against civilian infrastructures are war crimes," French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted. Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov acknowledged Thursday that it targeted Ukrainian energy facilities. But he said they were linked to Ukraine’s military command and control system and that the aim was to disrupt flows of Ukrainian troops, weapons, and ammunition to front lines.

(More Russia-Ukraine war stories.)

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